By Kolawole Ojebisi
Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said there was never a time he visited strongholds of bandits without the knowledge and presence of representatives of government officials and police to negotiate for peace and foster dialogue.
The Islamic scholar said this in an interview he granted PUNCH on Sunday,
He noted that there is no ulterior motive to his stance on the challenge of insecurity, particularly insurgency, in the Northern region.
Gumi noted that he has been advocating for dialogue between bandits and the government to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the intractable problem.
The cleric added that his military experience drives his proactive approach to peace.
“Spending trillions on ammunition and militarisation when the problem is social will yield no results, it will only compound the issue
“I am in the eye of the storm and I am a full-fledged Nigerian. I also have an interest in peace and tranquillity,” he said.
The cleric continued: “I cannot wait for the official narrative because I have been in the army and I know how things go.
“One thing Nigerians should understand is that I have never been to any den of these people without officials of the government. I go with the police because one cannot go alone; you must go with them.
“Only that they will tell you there is a perimeter—don’t come with some of them. Sometimes, I also go with traditional institutions and state government officials.
“My plan is only to broker peace with them. They open their doors for us to sit and discuss issues.”
The cleric said banditry stems from centuries of neglect, not political sponsorship, adding that exposure to education and the internet fuels their desire for change and a better future for their children.
“No politician is sponsoring these people. We are all victims. The opposition is not even behind this. This is a natural reaction of people neglected for centuries,” Gumi said.
“Now they are exposed to the world and they want education. These people are exposed to the internet and see how much they are deprived.
“They want to fight back. This act is not orchestrated by anybody.
“To our surprise, in a school built for herdsmen in a village between Abuja and Kaduna, over 600 of them, along with their families, have started schooling there.
“They are telling us they don’t want their children to be like them. Imagine if we did that all around the country,” he added.
He stressed that the government is treating the symptoms instead of finding the root cause of insurgency by militarisation of the northern region.
“No matter how many expensive drugs you give to patients, if they are not the right drugs, they will not get cured. In fact, the drug needed may be very cheap, but you may be giving an expensive drug that is ineffective for the ailment. In this case,there is a need to diagnose what the problem is, especially among the youth. We must understand that these individuals are all young, whether they are Boko Haram or bandits; you will never see an old man among them. There is a social reason associated with all these disturbances, and there is also a lack of respect for leadership. The Federal Government must look at the root cause of this problem and start to apply the right formula to solve it.”, he said.
Gunmi has been in the news of the campaign for peaceful resolution of the challenge of banditry instead of the military approach by the government.
This position has attracted heavy criticisms from certain quarters of the country but the cleric has refused to shift his ground.
Meanwhile, deluge of reactions have followed Gumi’s views.
“There should be some levels of birth control in the north. A situation you produce without means will generate children that will become bandits and terrorists. Gumi failed to see this. Sanusi’s mode of enlightenment is better for the north if they will hear.” Yusuf wrote on X( formerly known as Twitter).
Sayo another commenter wrote, “I said it that b@nditry is a deliberate invention of some seemingly powerful peopleeee in Nigeria, but I was suspended on facebook. God is watching all of us and will surely rise to the rescue of this country someday”
